Metropolitan police solved just 6% of burglaries last year

The Metropolitan police solved six out of every 100 burglaries last
year, nearly half the rate their officers cleared up five years ago.

The force says over half of the burglaries they used to record as solved
came from people who admitted a string of other offences after they
were arrested. The force says this practice, called taking into
consideration (TIC) other offences, was open to abuse.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Met’s commissioner, became embroiled in a
public spat a fortnight ago with other police chiefs after saying his
force would continue to send an office to every burglary.

Sara Thornton, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, had
said cuts would mean an officer may not attend every scene or might take
longer to get there. She said big funding cuts could mean victims of
burglary could be asked to send video and pictures of the aftermath to
police.

The Met says that over half of its clear-ups in 2010-11 were gained
from offenders who were arrested and then admitted to other offences.
The force said there were problems with the integrity of that practice
and they have largely stopped counting TICs as burglaries they have
solved.

Before it changed the way the way it counted, the Met caught
offenders in 11% of burglaries, against a national average of 15.5%,
according to figures from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.
That disparity is even worse now the Met has stopped relying so heavily
on offenders admitting other offences.

Comparable forces serving big urban areas did better. Greater
Manchester police solved 14% of burglaries from homes, West Midlands
13%, and West Yorkshire 18%. The City of London force claimed a 25%
clear-up rate for burglaries, and South Wales claimed a 37% rate.